How our legislative process works

The telecom industry has been known to throw a lot of money around when it needs a favor from lawmakers.

Case in point, the recent U.S. House of Repesentatives vote on whether to grant retroactive immunity to phone companies that allegedly helped the National Security Agency carry out President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program. (Numerous lawsuits have accused San Antonio’s AT&T Inc. of being one of those companies.)

Turns out, the telecom industry gave an average of $10,660 to House members who voted “no” on a recent amendment that rejected retroactive immunity on the wiretapping issue, according to MAPLight.org, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions. That compares to $7,085 to those who voted “yes.”